Sunday, March 22, 2015

Something for almost nothing

When we renovated the kitchen we installed new cabinets. One of the cabinet doors had a funky finish flaw in it. When the pot lights were on in the evening you could see a ripple in the finish that made it look like a zebra skin. During the day you did not notice it but at night I could not overlook it and had to fix it. It was a simple phone call....in theory. I talked to a representative that really didn't listen and I kinda felt like I wasn't going to get what I needed. Sure enough, a week or so later my new door arrived but it was the wrong size. Another call and another door arrived.....and fit.



I was left with two doors. The company wanted neither of them back. Mr. wanted to toss them but not me, no sir! I had plans.  I thought they would make lovely chalk boards. I taped off the inside the panel and applied the chalk paint. It took two coats of paint. I painted the first coat in one direction and the second coat I painted perpendicular to the first coat. Now, this is where I know better but, well, oh! I know! I left the tape on and didn't take it off when I was done painting and a few days later when I got back to it the tape took what should have been nice pretty edges and ripped jagged edges. Ugh. Walk away.


Remove the tape before the paint completely dries! 
That took the wind out of may sails. Fast forward six months later. I came up with a fix. (That did not take six months but the desire to come back to the project did.) I had some copper tape that I had used in a project we did for art in school. The kids had made stained glass panels and we taped the edges of the glass to make them safe.


I cut the top and bottom straight then mitered the side strips, overlapping the the corners.


I used the tape to frame out the chalk paint. It covered the jagged edges and added a nice finishing tough. I used a brayer to help adhere it well. Be careful because the edges can be sharp. Afterwards I used a spoon to burnish fit onto the board.


Some clean up is still needed-see the chalk paint outside the tape?


If you are going to make a chalkboard be sure to rub your chalkboard down with a stick of chalk and then erase off. This primes your board so that the first thing you write on the board doesn't end up being there forever. After that- go wild!



I added a knob to hang my chalk from.




The doors were free. I had the chalk paint and the copper tape. The only thing this cost me was some time! The plan is to sell them because I have my eye on a paint sprayer.......


Link parties I am joining:

11 comments:

  1. I love when things get re-purposed rather than thrown away!
    I would love for you to stop by my blog and join our Something to Talk About, Monday-Thursday link party!

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    1. Hi Karen, thanks for the invite! I just visited your blog for the first time and I will definitely be back. I did link up to your latest party. Many creative ideas there! Thanks again.

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  2. Great idea, they turned out great!
    Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  3. Such a great repurpose! Thank you for sharing. You are one of the features at The Round-Up from the Before & After Wednesday party at The Dedicated House. Here is the link so you can check out your feature.
    http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/2015/03/the-round-up-from-before-after-wednesday_31.html Hope to see you again tomorrow at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

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  4. The blog focuses on the topic of home renovation, specifically the kitchen, and the author's own way of going through their them. The pictures in the blog show exactly how the changes were made as well as helpful tips and advice on what to do and is definitely helpful for anyone who wants to do renovations of their own.

    Fred Richardson @ SGK Home Solutions

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  5. What a great idea! Its so nice when a company apologizes for a mistake and doesn't make you return something. It gave you a great opportunity to make something creative out of something you didn't have to spend a penny on! Great job, definitely a project worth thinking about doing in my own home. We have some leftover cabinets in the basement from our remodel.

    Van Lucas @ JPC Custom Homes

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    1. Thanks for visiting with me, Van. I am glad you liked the project!

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